


Hospital

by Ruffiticus (orphan_account)



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Ruffy writes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-13 12:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ruffiticus





	Hospital

Title: Hospital

Fandom: Steam Powered Giraffe

Characters: Rabbit, The Spine

Rating: PG

Author’s Note: well its been a long time since i wrote anything so here

It was boring, the hospital waiting room. The automatons weren’t allowed in, just as the engineers weren’t, as they weren’t directly related to Peter. It was all very stupid and quite idiotic for them to bar everyone outside the family to see him, thought Rabbit- after all, he raised the kid! He and his brothers were like uncles- if not fathers- to Peter! But those were the rules of the Intensive Care Unit, and no amount of whining would win favour with the doctors and nurses.

Rabbit had been able to find things to do over the past four or five hours that they’d been there, but his patience was starting to wear thin.

“When’s Pete gettin’ out?” he would ask on repeat. “What’s for dinner? Can pigeons fly fast enough t’break the sound barrier? What’re meatballs made of?” were among the other things he would ask. The rest of the group wasn’t having any of it, and Steve had actually snapped at him for asking questions while the doctor was talking; that resulted in Rabbit relegating himself to the corner.

Night soon fell and the ragtag gang of humans and robots were told to go home, that visiting hours were over. While Rabbit rejoiced in being able to go home so he could see Jenny, his two younger brothers were quiet for the entire ride home.

—

Weeks passed and there was no sign of Peter coming home. Rabbit stopped going to the hospital when the rest of them offered their company. He hid himself away for short bursts- even went so far as to turn off his wireless signal so that The Spine and Hatchworth couldn’t contact him for hours on end. Whenever he decided to show his face for the next few weeks he was always chipper and ready to help with anything and anyone who needed his help.

After the second month ticked by, Rabbit could no longer be found walking around the house. He was always in his stasis chamber, but it wasn’t too hard to get him to leave the refuge it provided if there was a problem he was needed for; he would gladly leave his safe haven if there was trouble that needed to be fixed.

When five months had passed it was obvious that Rabbit wanted to stay hidden because not even QWERTY could find him. He wasn’t in his stasis chamber, and he wasn’t in the practise room, and he wasn’t in the Room of Random Green Splotches, and he wasn’t in the Hall of Faces, and he wasn’t even out on the porch swing like he usually was when he got upset. No, Rabbit Walter could not be found in the great Walter Manor, just as he wanted. No amount of shouting or bribing or tearful caterwauling could bring the automaton out of hiding.

After nearly a year- nine months to be exact- of Peter VI not being at home, Steve came from the hospital with a blank face and bloodshot eyes. He only muttered two words, but those words seemed to rip a hole in the hearts of all the Manor residents- a hole previously occupied by the faceless man who lived in the basement.

After a few weeks Peter V and Wanda came back from the hospital that they’d near lived in for the better part of the year, but no one was smiling like they’d used to. The Walter Girls had been put on vacation, the mechanics of the house were busy with paperwork that the Walters themselves were too shaken to complete, and the two younger automatons were still busy trying to find Rabbit. Wanda disappeared to her room with a photo album later that night, and her husband soon followed her.

A few days later, Wanda asked The Spine if he could go down and make sure Peter’s room was left the way it was and, “Could you feed Marshmallow for me? Peter always kept her so well fed…” The Spine nodded his affirmation and set off to the basement.

Peter was a simple man at the core, and his room reflected the essence of needing to keep order in at least one place. Things on shelves were in perfect lines, cubbies were labeled neatly, pictures hung at perfect ninety-degree angles.

“Hello, Rabbit,” greeted the younger robot as he entered the room.

“He’s dead, ain’t he?” was the soft murmur he got back.

“He’s been dead for a bit now. Are you alright?”

“I got Marshmallow t’kee-keep me comp’ny, I’m fine.”

“Rabbit, I know what you’re doing.”

The older automaton was silent for a minute aside from the shuffle of his clothes on the giant cat’s fur.

“Dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”

“You’ve done this with all of them, Rabbit.”

“Ha-Have no-“

“You pick something to attach to and then you wipe your memory later, but the files are still there in the back of your head, aren’t they?”

Rabbit was silent.

“Marshmallow isn’t going t-“

“I’m not gonna lose him!” Rabbit shouted suddenly. Tears of oil made his face glint in the low light. “He-He’s not goin’ anywhere!”

“Rabbit, I-“

“You nothin’! You just de-de-delete all tha feelin’s you had for ‘em an’ you treat ‘em like they was buisness partners!” he cried. The Spine straightened and kept his eyes steady.

“We serve them, Rabbit. We can’t afford to-“

“They’re our fa-family, Tha Spine!” The elder robot was starting to shake with synthesised sobs. “They’re all I got anymore!”

That made the titanium bot downright frown.

“Rabbit, you are their servant. They want nothing more than a ‘How do you do?’ from you, and you know it.”

“Shut up an’ leave me be!”

So The Spine let him be. It was a good month before Rabbit showed his face again; though no one could put their finger on it, he looked as though he had a few more stains on his faceplate. He was bouncy and happy and fun again, though, so no one really minded much.


End file.
